The Same Stream Twice
by Lomonaaeren
Summary: Harry and Draco have been patient. They've been kind. They've been agreeable. And they still want each other as much as ever.


**Title** : The Same Stream Twice  
 **Disclaimer** : J. K. Rowling and associates own these characters. I am writing this story for fun and not profit.  
 **Pairing** : Harry/Draco, past Harry/Ginny and Draco/Astoria  
 **Content Notes** : Mild angst, epilogue-compliant  
 **Rating** : PG  
 **Wordcount** : 1300  
 **Summary** : Harry and Draco have been patient. They've been kind. They've been agreeable. And they still want each other as much as ever.  
 **Author's Notes:** The title of this story comes from the saying of the Greek writer Heraclitus that no man can step in the same river twice.

 **The Same Stream Twice**

"I'll _miss_ you."

Lily flung her arms around Harry's waist and held on. Harry gently stroked her hair. She'd bound it up in some sort of elaborate braid bound with little butterflies whose wings danced when he touched them, but she didn't object. She just buried her face further into Harry's side.

"I don't _want_ to go to Hogwarts."

Harry knelt down in front of her. She was taller than Albus had been at that age, but the misery in her eyes was very similar. "Yes, you do. And I want you to. I know that it doesn't seem like it right now, but you'll be happy there, Lily. And you _know_ that I don't care what House you're Sorted into."

The steam from the train and the laughter of hundreds of wizards both billowed around them, but Lily's eyes remained fixed on her father. She took a deep breath. "You've been waiting for this for a long time, haven't you, Daddy?"

Harry blinked. "Of course. It's a milestone. I wanted you to be happier to go, but Al wasn't, and look how happy he is now…"

"No." Lily squeezed his hands. "You've been waiting for this because _he_ was waiting."

Harry froze. "How do you—know about that?"

"I'm very observant." Lily's little smile didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes were so sad that Harry opened his mouth to say something else, but Lily shook her head. "You and Mum tried. I know. But it wasn't enough. So she made you wait until I was on my way to Hogwarts because I'm the last of the kids. Right?"

Harry swallowed and looked the other way. He and Ginny had never had any trouble keeping the strain behind their relationship from Al and Jamie. It was true that Jamie and Al were both preoccupied with other things most of the time, and Lily had been home alone with them for most of the last two years, but…

"You have to do what's right." Lily closed her eyes. "Just like Al had to learn to be happy being in Slytherin, and I have to go to Hogwarts." She hugged him again, but it was harder and more final this time. "So go do what's right, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you, too," Harry whispered, and that was always going to be the truth, no matter who he was married to. "So much."

Lily finally stepped back and patted her hair, probably to make sure the butterflies were still in place. Then she turned around and ran to the train with the smile in place. Lucy, Percy's daughter, who was also going to Hogwarts for the first time this year, grabbed her hand and yelled welcome, and then Hugo popped out of the other side of the doorway and helped drag Lily and her trunk up.

Harry stood watching, and waving, until his arm ached and the door had closed and the train had puffed steam and pulled away. Then he turned around.

Ginny stood next to him, her arms folded. Harry looked her calmly and steadily in the eye. He'd never wanted to be unkind. It was one reason he'd agreed to wait seven years after he knew who he really wanted, until all their kids were in Hogwarts and would have the support of cousins and family and Houses and professors instead of having to feel torn between living with their mum and dad.

Ginny looked away. "What went wrong?" she whispered.

"Nothing with you," Harry said with utter certainty. "With me."

It seemed Potters just had a habit of falling in love suddenly and uncontrollably with one person. It had worked out for his parents. Harry wished it could have happened for _him_ in Hogwarts.

But then again, Draco had been too childish at the time to show even a hint of the man Harry was in love with now—the one who read to his son each night, who had quietly encouraged his son's friendship with Rose Weasley when both Scorpius and Rose got into Ravenclaw, who had apologized to all the Weasleys, who cheered Harry up at Ministry parties with sardonic jokes, who had donated rare Malfoy books to help found a public library for Muggleborn children to study in before they went to Hogwarts.

The man who was standing on the other side of the platform right now, next to the woman who had been _his_ wife, and waiting for Harry.

Their love should have crumbled. They'd never had sex, never shared more than one kiss. Draco had had to wait two years longer than Harry, since Scorpius was an only child. Harry had been the one to fall in love with Draco first, the first to tell him, and Draco had been reluctant and disbelieving at first. It _should_ have fallen apart. Harry knew that was the second major reason, besides the children, that Ginny had wanted them to wait to get divorces. If they just waited and drifted apart because of natural lack of fulfillment, then no one had to be the villain.

But it hadn't happened. Draco wrote steadily to Harry every week, and Harry wrote back. They met when they could, always in a public place so Ginny and Astoria didn't have to worry about something happening. And their love continued.

Ginny exhaled slowly and said, "I've signed the papers. I'll owl them to you."

Harry smiled at her. "Thank you." He held out his hand. He wasn't going to kiss anyone but his children or his husband for the rest of his life.

Ginny hesitated, then shook his hand firmly. Then she walked away with her head up. Harry watched her go in admiration. It wasn't her fault that Harry had thought he was in love with her when his true love hadn't existed yet. She had been a good mother, a caring partner, a strong woman, and more patient and kinder than so many other people would have been.

But she wasn't the source of the trembling in his limbs as Harry turned and faced across the platform.

Astoria had already gone; she was quieter and colder than Ginny, and while she had played the same waiting game, she had acknowledged the loss earlier. Harry wondered if she had come along today simply to confirm for herself that it _was_ over.

Draco smiled at him, his eyes so bright and tender that Harry couldn't help himself, even with some Hogwarts parents and siblings still lingering and looking after the train. He bolted across the platform.

Draco laughed and opened his arms. Harry grabbed him and swung him around, leaning in to kiss him.

It was only the second kiss they had ever shared. It was quick and wet and their noses bumped. Draco's tongue got tangled around Harry's in his laughter, and they broke apart spluttering and wiping at their mouths.

It didn't matter. Nothing mattered to Harry right now except the light in Draco's eyes and the divorce papers that he would soon sign—and the life that Draco led him towards, gentle step by gentle tugging step, down the platform.

"Astoria already moved out," Draco whispered as they prepared to Apparate. "You can have your choice of any room for your study." He didn't have to say where Harry would sleep.

Harry leaned his head on Draco's shoulder and let Draco Side-Along Apparate him—and slam him into the door when they got there, and give him a stronger, deeper, more loving kiss than they'd had on the platform.

This was worth waiting for.

 **The End.**


End file.
